Congratulations Monica + Rob!

I loved this wedding- such an amazing mix of culture, tradition and a full-blown party! All the wedding photos will be posted on my proofsite by the 24th- for the event code use Monica's maiden name.

first up-getting ready- here's monica and her sister at the hair salon

then its time for makeup

and the dress

and the ceremony begins...

Rob and the groomsmen wore lei's and traditional Filipino shirts.




this was so cute- instead of wine for the communion- they had the minister serve a bottle of champagne- here she is launching the cork a good 20 feet in the air to open it- definitely took all the guests by surprise!



a bubble filled send off from the church

they rented a school bus to get the whole wedding party around "old- school" hee hee! i loved it- such a great idea- so much space and so fun!

awesome reception site- it had such a cool, funky 60s vibe going on! I guess there have been dances there every sunday night for over 30 years!

listening to their toasts

in addition to the traditional wedding cake there was lithuanian cake that was also quite tasty!

Monica is part of a Lithuanian dance troupe and when a member gets married all the other members perform a series of traditonal wedding dances for the new bride and groom.

in this lithuanian tradition monica's mom removed the veil and put an apron on her and rob got a pipe (yep- thats the veil over their heads)

first dance

the whole crowd on the dance floor for a circle dance- monica and rob warned me there would be some good dancers there- and there were! so fun to watch- no wonder they decided to have thier reception at a ballroom!


and i had to include this last shot- the end of the night after the reception site closed and im exhausted from a full day shooting- and monica and rob's friends who rode the bus back to the hotel with us are just getting started...i'm sure the party lasted well into the night!


hope you guys are having a blast in hawaii- thanks for letting me capture your big day - can't wait to share the rest! xoxo Kris

Meet Griffey!

He's our new black lab puppy! he is named after pete's favorite baseball player from his favorite team- Ken Griffey Jr of the Cincinati Reds.



we have been looking at dogs for a while, i loved my sister's boxer and our friends have an awesome american bulldog but we hadn't really thought of labs...



but someone at pete's work advertised on their inter-office board that they had a litter of 7 little lab puppies and pete insisted we take a look- one look and we were hooked- griffey came home with us sunday afternoon



it took him a bit to get the concept of going on a walk or getting up and down the stairs- but he is starting to get the hang of it



now we just have to teach him...everything else!



but he is already pretty good at sleeping...

Homo Sapiens Barackus

Just wanted to share a photo from this months issue of Chicago Magazine entitled Homo Sapiens Barackus that features a primotees shirt. (It's the blue one the girl is wearing and it reads Barack. Paper. Scissors. He even beats paper) Primotees is my brother and friends t-shirt company! To order one for youself click here. To read the article click here.

Lisa and Karl's engagement photos

Lisa and Karl have chicago roots and were planning on coming back here to visit family and wanted to fit in a photoshoot with me when i learned i would be out in their area - so we decided to get some shots in San Francisco instead. It was so fun for me to take some photos in a new town. Thanks for a fun afternoon you guys and a big congratulations on your engagement!

good bye san fran

what a great city and fun trip! managed to visit all my family in the area, saw all my favorite sites as well as discovered some new ones- ate out at a bunch of cool spots and just hung out and soaked in the city's charm! i even got some editing work done and had a fun photo shoot out there too.

my uncle chuck took us sailing on the bay which is always one of the highlights of my san francisco visits- here's chuck and pete passing under the bay bridge as we head back to harbor
i found where the cable cars sleep
souvenirs
up close on the golden gate- i snapped this from a fun engagement shoot i did-so fun to get to shoot in a new city-
you can see coit tower from all over the city but i had never made it up till this trip - here is the view at the top!
its lucky to wedge change out the plastic gaurds to the window ledges overlooking the city
the always magical golden gate park- i shot this while walking through the arboretum - even better then how it looks is the smell- ocean, pine and eucalyptus
we tried to walk across the golden gate bridge one night- but we learned its locked to pedestrians after sunset so we were stranded in the parking lot on the sausalito side for a bit waiting for a cab- i played around with long exposure shots and loved this cool old car that was parked in the lot
and to tie it up- a san fran icon- the cable car

the rock

although i have been to alcatraz a number of times (i think this was my 5th visit?) pete never has so he was able to take off from work for a long lunch and we took a tour of the island. i never mind going back- so much cool stuff to see, besides the prision there are tons of old buildings in various states of ruin and great trails that go all around the island with amazing views of the city

pete making his way down michigan avenue- what the prisoners called this row between the cells
this was the gaurds old rec building
pete in "the hole" a door behind the gates is shut letting virtually no light in
the old power house
back to the mainland

mas frisco!

the famed street cars
again- the view from my hotel room- its so fun to look out on the bay bridge all day and see how it changes with the light
in golden gate park
down by the docks

japenese tea garden